Beyond Compliance: Safety, Productivity and Innovation in Diverse Construction Contexts
A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2026 | Viewed by 19
Special Issue Editors
Interests: SMEs; micro firms; informal practices; decolonising safety
Interests: modern methods of construction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: sustainable principles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Safety and productivity in construction are often framed as competing priorities. This Special Issue aims to challenge that narrative by exploring how strategic planning, organisational culture, and emergent site practices can enable both safe and productive outcomes. In many contexts, particularly among small firms or in resource-constrained environments, construction safety becomes adaptive and highly contextual.
We invite contributions that examine how safety is understood, negotiated, and maintained in such settings. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Informal or undocumented safety practices;
- Safety management in small and micro construction firms;
- Subcontractor and multi-tier supply chain challenges;
- Site-level innovation and safety-informed technologies;
- Productivity pressures and their influence on safety behaviours;
- National and organisational cultures and their impact on safety norms;
- Balancing global standards with local risk contexts.
We welcome original research articles, conceptual papers, and case studies that engage with these themes from any geographical or methodological perspective.
Dr. Emmanuel Aboagye-Nimo
Dr. Poorang Piroozfar
Prof. Dr. Colin Booth
Prof. Dr. Fred Sherratt
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- construction safety
- productivity in construction
- safety-performance trade-offs
- site-level innovation
- safety culture
- informal practices
- emerging technologies
- small and micro enterprises
- resource-constrained environments
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
